UNBA NextGen proposed solutions for the professional integration of young people from the TOT

In the context of the war, young professionals need both social support and practical mechanisms to return to education, employment, and professional development. During parliamentary hearings, representatives of UNBA NextGen proposed solutions regarding first jobs, housing, career counseling, and the removal of legal barriers for young people from the temporarily occupied territories.

The issue of professional adaptation for young people, particularly internally displaced persons and professionals from temporarily occupied territories, was discussed on April 30 during hearings at the Verkhovna Rada Committee on youth and sports titled «The situation of youth in Ukraine: challenges and adaptation under martial law».

The Ukrainian National Bar Association was represented at the hearings by regional representatives of the UNBA NextGen: Lev Kornilov in Kyiv, Tetyana Kozyan in the Kyiv region and Maksym Sibilev in the Luhansk region.

The basis for the discussion was the annual report to the President and the Verkhovna Rada on the situation of youth for 2022–2025. During the hearings, chaired by Committee Chairman Andriy Kozhemyakin with the participation of Minister of Youth and Sports Matviy Bidny, special attention was paid to the professional integration of young internally displaced persons.

L. Kornilov emphasized the need to scale up dual education and create financial incentives for employers who provide the first job for graduates. He supported the introduction of digital tools for coordinating and monitoring demand for professions. In his view, this will allow young lawyers to adapt more quickly to the needs of the labor market.

T. Kozyan spoke about preserving human capital through affordable housing. She supported the recommendation to extend the State Program for Providing Housing to Youth until 2030 with projected funding of 2.8 billion UAH. The advocate emphasized the importance of developing a network of youth centers based on the «one-stop shop» principle to provide career counseling services, which is critical for residents of de-occupied communities.

M. Sibiliev outlined strategic directions for the adaptation of youth from the temporarily occupied territories by removing legal barriers to the realization of their professional potential. He highlighted the critical gap between state support for survival and the lack of pathways for internally displaced persons to return to their professions. A representative of UNBA NextGen highlighted the problem of «legal invisibility» among professionals from the temporarily occupied territories who have lost documents regarding their qualifications and work experience. He therefore proposed introducing an interagency procedure for verifying professional backgrounds. In his view, qualifications and work experience should be verified through a combination of digital education and pension records, rather than solely through archival references.